Blackshades + hacking = prison

Kevin McCoy

USA TODAY

NEW YORK – Sending a message intended to deter cybercrime, a judge Tuesday sentenced the co-creator of the Blackshades malware program to nearly five years in prison for running an operation that infected more than a half-million computers worldwide.

Swedish citizen Alex Yücel, 25, asked for leniency and said he felt contrition for marketing the malware to hackers bent on secretly controlling computers so they could steal passwords, owners' identities and more.

U.S. District Court Judge Kevin Castel didn't give Yücel the minimum 70-month prison term sought by federal prosecutors. But, saying "the message must go forth that this is a serious crime," Castel sentenced him to 57 months behind bars, well over the 30-month punishment urged by Yücel's attorney.

"We rely on our computers as an extension of how we live our lives," said Castel. "This is spreading misery to the lives of thousands. That's what this is."

Yücel, who was also hit with a $200,000 federal forfeiture order, has already served approximately 13 months in U.S. custody, plus roughly one month in Moldova, where he was held after capture.

He's one of roughly 97 suspects arrested last year in a U.S.-led global investigation of a scheme that operated from 2010 to 2013 and marketed Blackshades' Remote Access Tool — RAT — for $40 per download. The criminal enterprise generated gross sales of roughly $350,000 while spreading electronic havoc.

The malware featured "spreaders," tools designed to infect additional computers via messages or links that appeared to originate from the victim's friends or work associates. It also included a tool that enabled hackers to record their targets' keystrokes and gain passwords, and another that let the perpetrators lock electronic files and demand ransom payments to free them.

In a few cases, prosecutors said one hacker used Blackshades to control computer cameras and secretly photograph the machine's female victims while they undressed or had sex.

Yücel pledged to avoid crime and pursue a legitimate career as he asked for a sentence that would allow him to see his seriously-ill mother in Sweden and rejoin other relatives and his fiancée.

"I would like to start off by offering my most heartfelt apologies to the United States and the people whose lives were affected" by Blackshades, he told Castel, saying he felt "deep remorse" for his actions.